Assistant Heads in Primary & Saplings
We would like to begin by introducing ourselves as the new Assistant Heads in Primary and Saplings - Anna Johnson and Josh Rutledge. We are both delighted to have taken on this new role, alongside our commitment as Year 4 teachers, and to continue to lead, nurture and develop our lovely Primary and Saplings team. We are both extremely passionate about the Olive Tree school’s warm ethos and in ensuring the children are inspired each day by their caring teachers, through personalised and creative learning. We also continue to maintain close and respectful relationships with our parenting body and school community, with an open door policy.
Our focus in primary this year is to provide the children with the opportunity of working collaboratively, not only within their given year groups but across the whole of primary. In order for this to happen, we have created four vertical family groups so that children can take part in extra-curricular learning opportunities linked to Christmas, Halloween, school council matters and many more. This has proven a great hit so far; children are motivated and excited by family points and coming together as a group - with Year 6 prefects leading the way!
Our curriculum continues to be child-centred with the children having creative learning experiences tailored to their needs, so that they feel valued as individuals throughout their primary education.
This year, alongside bringing in our vertical family groups, we have made, and are in the process of bringing in, some changes. One of these changes is to enhance the reading for pleasure culture in primary and saplings - supporting children in developing their skills and love for reading. We have also spent time reviewing the literacy curriculum, in order to ensure children are experiencing a range of inspirational stimuli to support them in their understanding of writing for different genres. As a means of promoting creativity, The Literacy Shed has been introduced in addition to Talk for Writing approaches.
We prioritise an enquiry-based learning approach within our creative curriculum; encouraging the children to question, discuss and change their opinions/thinking as they journey through the topics. This promotes critical thinking, reasoning and reflection. Finally, we aim to enhance the area of music in primary and saplings - an area that we believe is an essential and treasured part of The Olive Tree - through our reintroduction of Winter and Summer concerts, as well as regular music recitals and the creation of a school orchestra.